The Men - The Commander listing

Otto Westphalen

Oberleutnant zur See (Crew 38)

Successes
2 ships sunk for a total of 14,386 GRT
1 warship sunk for a total of 1,350 tons
1 ship damaged for a total of 8,129 GRT
1 ship a total loss for a total of 7,200 GRT
1 warship a total loss for a total of 1,350 tons

Born	12 Mar 1920		Hamburg
Died	9 Jan 2008	(87)	Hamburg

Otto Westphalen

Ranks

1 Oct 1938	Offiziersanwärter
1 Jul 1939	Seekadett
1 Dec 1939	Fähnrich zur See
1 Aug 1940	Oberfähnrich zur See
1 Apr 1941	Leutnant zur See
1 Apr 1943	Oberleutnant zur See

Decorations

8 Oct 1941	U-boat War Badge 1939
3 Apr 1944	Iron Cross 1st Class
18 Feb 1945	German Cross in Gold
23 Mar 1945	Knights Cross

U-boat Commands

U-boat	From	To
U-121	16 May 1942	8 Feb 1943	No war patrols
U-968	18 Mar 1943	8 May 1945	7 patrols (129 days)

Personal information

Otto Westphalen began his naval career in October 1938. A year later he took part in the Poland campaign on the school ship Schlesien. Later he served six months on the torpedo boat Kondor before joining the U-boat force in October 1940.

In 1941 he made five patrols as watch officer on U-566, mostly in the Arctic Sea. In May 1941 he took command of the school boat U-121.

In March 1943 he commissioned the Type VIIC U-boat U-968, which was then detached to the 13th (Arctic Sea) flotilla, where Westphalen became one of the most successful commanders.

He sank two British warships: the sloops HMS Lark and Lapwing. He surrendered in May 1945 in Narvik.

Patrol info for Otto Westphalen

	U-boat	Departure		Arrival
1.	U-968	7 Mar 1944	Kiel	2 Apr 1944	Narvik	Patrol 1,	27 days
2.	U-968	4 Apr 1944	Narvik	6 Apr 1944	Trondheim		3 days
3.	U-968	11 Jul 1944	Trondheim	14 Jul 1944	Narvik		4 days
4.	U-968	17 Jul 1944	Narvik	21 Jul 1944	Bogenbucht		5 days
5.	U-968	20 Aug 1944	Bogenbucht	22 Aug 1944	Hammerfest		3 days
6.	U-968	29 Aug 1944	Hammerfest	10 Sep 1944	Bogenbucht	Patrol 2,	13 days
7.	U-968	24 Sep 1944	Bogenbucht	3 Oct 1944	Narvik	Patrol 3,	10 days
8.	U-968	14 Oct 1944	Narvik	11 Nov 1944	Ramsund	Patrol 4,	29 days
9.	U-968	13 Nov 1944	Ramsund	16 Nov 1944	Rörvik		4 days
10.	U-968	23 Jan 1945	Rörvik	25 Jan 1945	Narvik		3 days
11.	U-968	1 Feb 1945	Narvik	1 Feb 1945	Harstad		1 days
12.	U-968	7 Feb 1945	Harstad	20 Feb 1945	Kilbotn	Patrol 5,	14 days
13.	U-968	12 Mar 1945	Kilbotn	30 Mar 1945	Kilbotn	Patrol 6,	19 days
14.	U-968	21 Apr 1945	Kilbotn	6 May 1945	Harstad	Patrol 7,	16 days
15.	U-968	7 May 1945	Harstad	7 May 1945	Skjomenfjord	Patrol 7,	1 days
16.	U-968	15 May 1945	Skjomenfjord	19 May 1945	Loch Eriboll, UK		5 days
7 patrols, 129 days at sea

Ships hit by Otto Westphalen

Date	Boat	Name of ship	Tons	Nat.		Convoy	Fate *
14 Feb, 1945	U-968	Horace Gray	7,200		am	BK-3	total loss
14 Feb, 1945	U-968	Norfjell	8,129		nw	BK-3	damaged
17 Feb, 1945	U-968	HMS Lark (U 11)	1,350		br	RA-64	total loss
17 Feb, 1945	U-968	Thomas Scott	7,176		am	RA-64
20 Mar, 1945	U-968	HMS Lapwing (U 62)	1,350		br	JW-65
20 Mar, 1945	U-968	Thomas Donaldson	7,210		am	JW-65
			32,415
* Unless otherwise noted the ships listed here were sunk.